User blog:ThomasTheTrainFan/Season 15 Hunt!
Alas, ThomasTheTrainFan has come back to bring all of you the best with hunts for each season of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Wooden Railway Adventures! With the news of Season 15 premiering next week from a new video released by TWR, I am so excited that the long-awaited fifteenth season is coming and I am also very happy for the fans of the TTTEAFWRA to be able to see it on YouTube. Now, let's get down to business. There's a lot of things going on currently in TTTEAFWRA since Saving Pirate Ryan. Antagonist of the film Sailor John has escaped the Island of Sodor which makes me worried that he can come back at any given time, to top it off, the international engines from the Great Railway Show have arrived on the island so this will be interesting. Given that Season 15 picks up where "Saving Pirate Ryan" left off, there is going to be a lot to look forward to in the series' fifteenth season. So without further ado, I officially begin the Season 15 hunt! Reviews Roundhouse Roulette So, as of August 11, 2018, Season 15 has finally been released and the first episode of the season, Roundhouse Roulette is available on YouTube! Now, the events following Saving Pirate Ryan have been crazy as the international engines have arrived on the Island of Sodor and trouble is happening throughout the island in this episode, so without further ado, here is my personal review on Season 15, Episode 1: Roundhouse Roulette. In this episode, it picks up right where the 2017 film Saving Pirate Ryan had left off, the international engines are on Sodor and no Sailor John is in sight, which makes me worried for a possible return of the greedy pirate because he escaped via boat. Anyways, engines such as Ashima, Yong Bao, Vinnie, Frieda, Raul, Ivan and Bear are in this episode due to the terms and conditions of the Great Railway Show being on Sodor which Sir Topham Hatt never agreed to as he didn't attend the meeting due to the events of "Saving Pirate Ryan". Thomas and Percy attempt to work things out with these locomotives but are unable to, until the Flying Scotsman arrives... Eventually, the international engines are staying at Vicarstown Sheds leading to mishaps on the island with engines swapping places due to this incident. However, things are soon worked out as Sir Topham Hatt was able to make the Great Railway Show not take place on Sodor and states that the international engines have made Sodor home for themselves as they will often return to the island during breaks from their competitions. Overall, I did like this episode and think that the fifteenth season is off to quite the interesting start. New engines, suspicions of where Sailor John went to, it's just going to keep getting better from here on out. Here's to the second episode! Flash Gordon Following the first episode of the season, Roundhouse Roulette, Flash Gordon brings a lot of laughs and interesting information to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Wooden Railway Adventures. Simply put, it is definitely a good way to continue on with Season 15. In the episode itself, Gordon reunites with his brother, Flying Scotsman and he reveals to him the speed competition for the Great Railway Show on the Mainland and at Vicarstown Station, we have an introduction to Spencer's twin brother, Mallard, Gordon thinks he can beat Mallard but it will be hard due to him being the fastest engine in the world. Gordon thinks otherwise and wants to prove his brother wrong so later on at the Sodor Steamworks, he sees Connor and wants to be made streamlined to beat Mallard. Believing that it is a good way to win, Gordon also decides on taking up a new alias during his streamlining, the Shooting Star. Flying Scotsman ultimately convinces him otherwise thinking that that will not be able to beat Mallard, Gordon realizes his silliness and decides on not getting streamlined in the process. The next day, Gordon discusses to Flying Scotsman about his decision on becoming the Shooting Star and decides that he didn't need that and goes by a different nickname, Flash Gordon. Afterwards, Mallard and Spencer arrive at Knapford and it is revealed that Mallard had almost been broken down during the Great Railway Show when Spencer tried to warn him leading to Gordon and Flying Scotsman thinking of their brotherly antics. Overall, this was a humorous and good episode. There was a lot of comedy and laughs to get out of it while also showing the importance of being siblings and how sometimes their ways can get out of hand, but I think that we're all glad that Gordon ultimately didn't decide on becoming the Shooting Star seeing what happened to Mallard. Philip Finds a Friend After the events of Roundhouse Roulette and Flash Gordon, Philip Finds a Friend certainly brings some new information to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Wooden Railway Adventures. It gives us the introduction of Philip, a cheery little diesel boxcab who lives on the Mainland, the Mainland Diesels, a trio of yellow and red diesel shunters who work on a yard in the Mainland shunting trains for the Great Railway Show and a proper introduction of Vinnie, an American tender engine who participates in competitions for the Great Railway Show, I think that this is good as he was only one of the engines from the Great Railway Show that arrived on Sodor and despite having a speaking role in "Roundhouse Roulette", Philip Finds a Friend gives us a good look at his personality which I find very interesting. The episode starts off with Philip and the Mainland Diesels shunting in a yard, the Mainland Diesels get tired of Philip and send him off on a wild goose chase, on the way he meets Vinnie, who he is determined to make his friend. Unfortunately, Vinnie has no interest in being friends with Philip and simply put wants to be left alone but Philip doesn't leave making Vinnie much more annoyed. They eventually arrive back in the yard where the Mainland Diesels are and Vinnie attempts to persuade them into toning down on making his loads heavy for the Great Railway Show to give him easy wins. Stafford sees this and tells Philip that Vinnie and the Mainland Diesels aren't his friends and just bullies and the four engines leave the yard, afterwards, the episode ends with Philip starting an actual friendship with Stafford. Overall, this was a good episode and I enjoyed witnessing more new characters introduced in TWR's series. Also as a result, Philip was pretty much tolerable for me in this episode as in Thomas the Tank Engine rather than TTTEAFWRA, he is my least favorite character in the series but luckily, the portraying of Philip in this episode was better and he actually seemed more of a carefree spirit than just plain aggravating as he is in Thomas the Tank Engine. Vinnie's role in the episode was excellent, showing himself as a manipulative and careless bully who has been getting so far in the Great Railway Show by cheating, showing that he also plays unfair when it comes down to it. As a result, Philip and Vinnie's relationship in TTTEAFWRA wasn't pushed like it was in Thomas the Tank Engine where Philip just kept stalking Vinnie and he kept telling him to stay out of his way, usually ending with a remark about how small in comparison he is by calling him "shorty" which made me find myself rooting for Vinnie rather than Philip, in TTTEAFWRA, it was a perfect balance of both, Philip's by far not my favorite but he wasn't insufferable and Vinnie was portrayed so well by being an unfriendly and naughty steam engine that everything was as it should be. As for the Mainland Diesels, I was glad that they were introduced and I hope that I can see more of them in the future which is a high possibility as the engines from the Great Railway Show will be on Sodor sometimes in between their competitions on the Mainland. You're up, episode four. Harvey's Happy Accident When you're wondering how Season 15 can get any better, look no further than Harvey's Happy Accident. After the first three excellent episodes of this season, Harvey's Happy Accident brings more fun to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Wooden Railway Adventures. While getting into more of what's going on with other engines on the railway such as Harvey which is good to show, we also get the introduction of a new character, Porter. Now let's get this review started! Harvey's Happy Accident starts off with the titular character of the episode, Harvey cleaning up a mess at Tidmouth Station, however, there's only one problem that stands in his way: the Tidmouth Stationmaster. Though this character isn't as aggravating as the Railway Inspector, he still accuses Harvey of messing up the station which is not Harvey's fault as he is simply cleaning up the mess that was left behind. Despite Sir Topham Hatt believing that Harvey didn't start this ruckus, he sends him off to work at Brendam. Salty and Cranky are pleased by the arrival of Harvey as they could always use some more help around the docks, Harvey enjoys his time there but at first is confused by pulling freight trains as he usually doesn't do such jobs because he doubles as a crane due to the crane arm placed on top of his boiler. Eventually, Sir Topham Hatt decides on bringing Harvey back to help them out with messes, when he arrives at Brendam Docks, Sir Topham Hatt tries to convince Harvey to come back, although he enjoys helping out Salty and Cranky at Brendam, he accepts the offer on coming back but tells Sir Topham Hatt that Salty and Cranky do need more help at the docks, as a result, Sir Topham Hatt decides on bringing another engine to help them out at Brendam from the Great Railway Show, as it would turn out, Sir Topham Hatt kept his promise and an unusual-looking yet friendly tank engine named Porter arrives from the Mainland to help out Salty and Cranky, elsewhere, Harvey is talking to Derek at Tidmouth Station before the Tidmouth Stationmaster interrupts, resulting in Harvey flinching him back with his crane arm before leaving Tidmouth Station as the episode ends. Overall, I liked this episode. It was interesting that engines who serve more of the roles as supporting characters such as Harvey, Salty, Cranky and Derek were focused on and the Tidmouth Stationmaster was an excellent antagonistic character, though he shared some similarities to the Railway Inspector, you could almost love to hate him. Also because Porter was introduced, I'm excited for if he will get a prominent role in the series as though he didn't have any speaking lines in this episode, I can only expect that Porter will have some time to shine somewhere down the line. Now I can only wonder, what does episode five have to offer? Tyrannical Rex Probably one of my favorite episodes of this season, it is time for my review of Tyrannical Rex. I like this episode so much because it gives us a closer look into the lives of the Small Railway engines which is enjoyable. As well as that, it also gives us the introduction of two new characters: Rex and Jock. Alas, I will begin my review of Tyrannical Rex! Now another good thing about this episode is it has continuity because as the episode starts, the Arlesdale Railway has been getting less visitors after the Dynamite Stand was closed down due to Sailor John's treachery, Mike, Bert and Frank are upset about this fact but Sir Topham Hatt has a solution to the problem. A few weeks later, the controller of the railway arrives to tell the engines that he can bring back two engines to the Small Railway, Rex and Jock, Mike says that he isn't going to fall for Jock coming again, giving a reference to Tick-Tock-Jock, however, it turns out to not be a trick this time as Rex and Jock arrive back soon after. The miniature engines enjoy being back on their railway after such a long overhaul but Jock becomes conceited, believing that passengers will come here if he stays atop a bridge as a special attraction, Mike, Bert and Frank give into Jock but Rex doesn't and soon begins to feel left out, as a result, he decides on becoming more bossy towards the other engines if they like the way Jock acts, not long after though, Rex realizes his mistakes after Jock confesses he missed being on the Arlesdale Railway and Mike, Bert and Frank state that treating them meanly is not the way to go about it. At the end of the episode, it is shown that all of the Arlesdale Railway engines have reconciled, working together to bring in passengers and keep the railway open. Overall, in my personal opinion, this was a good enough episode that it immediately became one of my favorite episodes in not just Season 15 but TTTEAFWRA as a whole. First of all, it has more of a focus on the Arlesdale Railway engines rather than our main cast which is no problem for me but it's nice to see what other major characters have to offer. Secondly, more new characters is always a treat for me and it appears that the fifteenth season has a lot of them to introduce which keeps me watching these episodes happily. Rex and Jock were definitely good to see in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Wooden Railway Adventures as it's great to see the whole faction of the Small Railway altogether and I hope that they have bigger roles in the near future. These episodes just keep getting better, so now it's time to see what episode six is all about! The Maron Station Makeover Alas, here is my review of the latest episode of the fifteenth season of TTTEAFWRA, The Maron Station Makeover. This is an interesting episode as it shows just how frustrating the passengers are and you wonder how Sir Topham Hatt can run a railway like this with all of them grumbling. Though no new characters were introduced in this episode, it is still one of the best episodes of the season in my personal opinion and the reason will be clear as I start my review of The Maron Station Makeover! This episode begins with the passengers once again being typical passengers as they are complaining about Maron Station, as a result, Sir Topham Hatt is forced to put something else there, starting with the logging company, however, the passengers continue to be annoyed by this and demand something better to take the place of Maron Station, one particular passenger suggests that an ice cream factory be there to take its place which Sir Topham Hatt has take the position, eventually the engines get tired of the passengers' constant whining and start to rebel, wanting to make the passengers late to teach them lessons, this ultimately causes Sir Topham Hatt to put Maron Station back in its rightful place, thus replacing the ice cream factory. As the episode comes to its close, we learn that the passengers still grumble often but have now been able to deal with Maron Station. Overall, this is probably one of my favorite episodes that TWR has ever made, tying the 10 out of 10 spot alongside the previous episode, Tyrannical Rex. I like that the passengers are portrayed as they are in the TV series, constantly going on and on about what a bad railway they claim that Sodor is when in reality they haven't seen what the North Western Railway is truly capable of and the addition of the engines finally being fed up with them is always something that I can enjoy. Now that this review has reached its resolution, it's time to see what episode seven can bring to the table. Category:Blog posts